Basketball ***** Postgame Notes: UK 90, Gonzaga 89 *****

[Jeff Drummond]

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA | SEATTLE
DEC 7, 2024
ATTENDANCE: 17,846

Final Score: #4 Kentucky 90, #7 Gonzaga 89 (OT)

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is 8-1 and Gonzaga is 7-2
• The all-time series is tied, 2-2. UK is 2-0 on neutral floors
• This was the third straight season that Kentucky and Gonzaga have squared off
• Mark Pope is now 195-109 as a head coach, including 8-1 at Kentucky
• Next for Kentucky: The Wildcats return home to take on Colgate on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 8 p.m. inside Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. The game will air on ESPN 2.

Team Notes

• Kentucky is 2-0 against AP top 10 opponents this season. It is the quickest (nine games) into a season that the Cats have two victories over AP top 10 opponents since 2014-15 (eight games)
• The Cats matched the largest halftime deficit overcome in school history, coming from 16 points down at the intermission to win. Other comebacks in program history when trailing by 16 at the half:
  • at Louisville (Dec. 18, 2004)
  • at LSU (Feb. 15, 1994)
• UK is now 104-72 all-time in matchups involving two AP top 10 teams
• The Wildcats snapped a streak of 175 games that Gonzaga has won when leading by 10 or more points at the half
• It was the first OT game for the Cats since last season’s home contest against Florida on Jan. 31, 2024
• It marked the first OT win for Kentucky since the victory over St. Joe’s on Nov. 20, 2023
• Kentucky led for a total of 6:38 on the night
• Five players scored in double-figures. It is the fourth time this season that UK has had at least five players total double-digits in the scoring column
• In the second half and overtime, Andrew Carr and Jaxson Robinson were a combined 12-14 from the field and scored 28 points. They played 16:11 minutes of game time between them with four fouls
• The Cats held Gonzaga to just 6-27 (22.2%) shooting from beyond the arc. It is the sixth opponent that UK has held to less than 25 percent from deep on the season

Player Notes

• Andrew Carr was the leading scorer for Kentucky finishing with a season-high of 19 points. Carr is averaging 18.0 points per game against AP Top 10 opponents this season and has been Kentucky’s leading scorers in both such contests. He played the last 9:55 of game time with four fouls
• Jaxson Robinson had 18 points, 15 of which came in the second half, and registered a season-best five assists. He played the last 6:16 of game time with four fouls
• Kerr Kriisa reached 1,000 points for his collegiate career when he buried a 3-pointer on Kentucky’s first possession of the game. He finished with eight points and four assists, but left the game with an injury with 8:41 to go in the second half
• Brandon Garrison made the first 3-pointer of his collegiate career and scored a season-high 10 points while also securing a season-high nine rebounds
• Koby Brea has made at least one 3-pointer in every game this season and 24-straight games overall
• Otega Oweh has scored in double figures in every game this season. He finished with 13 points and six rebounds (five on the offensive glass) in a team-high 38 minutes of action
• Amari Williams totaled 12 points and finished with two blocks. He has multiple blocked shots in six of his last seven games

In the First Half

• Kentucky’s starters were Kerr Kriisa, Otega Oweh, Jaxson Robinson, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams
  • First subs were Kerr Kriisa and Brandon Garrison at 15:44
• Kentucky went the last 5:06 of the first half without a field goal and trailed by 16 heading into the break, the team’s largest deficit this season
• Brandon Garrison was Kentucky’s high scorer in the opening 20 minutes, scoring eight points

In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starters
• Gonzaga scored first in half number two to take its largest lead of the game, 52-34
• A 7-0 Kentucky spurt fueled by an Otega Oweh layup, an Andrew Carr “and-one” and a dunk by Amari Williams cut the deficit to 56-46 and forced a Gonzaga timeout at 16:43.
• Kentucky extended the run after the timeout to a 13-0 spurt, bringing the score to 56-52. The 13 straight points were tied for the second largest run by UK this season
• A jumper from Andrew Carr with 58 seconds to go tied the game at 79, the first tie of the night
• Koby Brea had a look at a mid-range jumper as time expired, but the shot bounced off the front of the rim

In Overtime

• Kentucky scored the first seven points of the overtime to lead, 86-79
• Gonzaga responded with the next six points to pull within one at 86-85
• The Wildcats went up by four on a jumper from Jaxson Robinson with 14 seconds to go
• The Bulldogs responded with a 3-pointer from Nolan Hickman to bring the score to 90-89 with 5 seconds remaining
• Andrew Carr was fouled but missed the ensuing two free throws. He was able to disrupt the Gonzaga fast break, however, and the Bulldogs did not get off a final shot before the horn